Hardware

It’s been awhile since we last did a live stream. Watch us play through a random assortment of Sega Dreamcast games and maybe we’ll go hunt for some sailors while we’re at it. We’ll be starting the show later today at 10PM GMT. (Or 6PM EST if you prefer.) The stream is over, however you should be able to watch the archived version right here. Or click play on the video above.

2013 has still only just started, meaning there’s still not a whole lot going on when it comes to news. Still, some of what’s going on is pretty cool, like Nvidia announced their very own gaming handheld. And it uses Nvidia Tegra technology! Meaning that Bartman3010 should be writing this Monday Links because praising Nvidia Tegra is his thing, but he’s busy so I’ll do it for him: Nvidia Tegra is amazing and cool and probably cooler than you are and can run Sonic 4 Episode 2. And that’s what Bartman3010 maybe would have written for today’s Monday Links.

Sonic Retro News

Remember Sonic XG? Apparently Joseph Waters (Nitemare) is still working on it and had put a new video of the game online last week. [Youtube]

Strife has uploaded an updated demo of his upcoming game Freedom Planet, he’s also looking into starting a Kickstarter page of the game soon. [Freedom Planet]

Anarchy Reigns releases tomorrow you guys, or on Friday if you live in Europe. [Anarchy Reigns]

Even though SEGA has put a lot more focus on releasing games digitally lately, they were still the sixth best retail games publisher in the UK. [MCVUK]

Here’s a new trailer for Aliens: Colonial Marines that we forgot to link last week. [Youtube]

Nvidia announced their own brand new Android gaming handheld using the latest of the amazing Nvidia Tegra technology. Meaning you can probably run Sonic 4 Episode 2 on it, so there’s your Sonic news for the week. [The Verge]

Sega Channel exclusive no more! Sega and Capcom are teaming up to bring you not only Sonic the Hedgehog 1, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Super Street Fighter II, you also receive a copy of Mega Man – The Wily Wars which featured Mega Man 1, 2, 3 and an exclusive mini-game under one package.

Oh….

Given the history of portable Genesis/Mega Drive units produced by At Games and Blaze who have also released other ___ Sega games in one Mega Drive units such as the Firecore, also known as the Blaze Sega Mega Drive, it’s highly likely all the games in the package will also suffer a number of sound and graphical emulation errors. You won’t be getting the perfect experience playing the game, but at least it’s on the go and has 37 games from Sega, 3 games from Capcom and 40 other unannounced titles. The unit is scheduled for release on November 13th.

Y-You don’t? Well I can’t blame you. After all, it was one of those schemes from the higher ups of Sega who were ready to capitalize on the popularity of their new flagship console of the 90’s. Competing with the CD-Rom technology of the PC Engine, and to attempt to stay above the rest of the competition, Sega was ready to stay among the pioneers of the uncharted fathoms of a disc-based medium. While not as successful as the Core system, the Sega Mega CD still acts as a milestone of game development that would bring the game industry it’s future, today. The add-on brought upon innovative gameplay, political controversy, expanded the possibilities of sound, graphics, storytelling, and of course helped with the transition of a cartridge based format to compact disc as a storage medium. Without a doubt there should be a buzz of excitement around the upcoming re-release of Sonic CD despite not actually coming out on a CD based consumer format. What a shame! On the bright side this is a good of time as any to highlight the add-on’s history and to show that it was more than just ‘The Sonic CD add-on.’

Gametrailers reads aloud the dictated words of the Sonic Retro wiki for the uninitiated. Yuji Naka, “creator of Sonic,” would be amazed. Now that’s a fact! Unfortunately, Simon Wai was unavailable for comment.

While covering the European Amusement and Gaming Expo, forum member NiktheGreek also managed to catch a few other Sonic related machines on display at the show.

First up is Sonic Quad Air, a four-player Sonic themed air hockey table. While not deviating much from normal air hockey, the addition of two players at least spells for a rather chaotic match.

The more interesting machine, and no doubt already getting soccer moms lined up to ban the machine in the United States, is a Sonic series slot machine. Much like the slots in casinos and games, you line up the reels to win a prize. In this case, the payout is done in redeemable prize tickets, with triple Chaos Emeralds promising a payout of about 100 tickets and a jackpot of an ever increasing amount of tickets included.

A special thanks to Nik for taking the photos, viewable in the gallery below.

So, I was browsing NicoNicoDouga earlier today looking for some specific footage that I ultimately was not able to find. That’s OK, though.

What I did find was much more awesome.

NicoNico user まっくろくろいの has made a series of videos involving Sega hardware and puns, which, of course, require hardware modifications to fulfill. The Saturn mouse becomes…a mouse. Saturns attempt to fly. Sense fails to be made.

You can catch several more of these videos uploaded to YouTube here or, if you have a NicoNico account, can see the full set here.

Game Gear was one of the largest portable systems ever released in the market, causing many people in the early ’90s to look like they grew a massive tumor in their leg.

All that size helped in enabling the system to run Nintendo 64 games (and also making it even more unwieldy!)

The above video showcases Evil Nod’s mod job on the console, lovingly called the N Gear 64, running a few N64 titles like Goldeneye, Resident Evil 2 and Mario Kart 64, as well as a few additional features, such as link cable support and TV Out support, which turns off the screen and speaker for TV play.

I know what you’re thinking; “The Game Gear’s six AA battery life was abysmal at best. What the hell is it with this now?”

Because of all the hardware packed into the console, there are no battery slots. However, the mod creator demonstrates using a Power Grip rechargeable battery pack for the console that doubles as a grip for the system… and adds even more girth to the already monstrous device.

While no step-by-step instruction is given on how to create your own, you can check out photos of the system’s construction here.